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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29510268">The Second Birthday Bash at the End of the World</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/random0factor/pseuds/random0factor'>random0factor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vinaigrettes [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>HLVRAI - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Birthdays, Cowboys, Dave and Busters make a return, Fluff, Gordon was a sad and lonely single dad before the res cas and you cannot take that away from me, M/M, Slowburn universe, do not expect smooching, it'll happen eventually I promise, they have not reached that level yet, this is just domestic pre-relationship fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 02:35:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,313</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29510268</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/random0factor/pseuds/random0factor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Birthdays - rather, his own birthday - had never been that important. Oh, sure, he got take out instead of cooking, and he liked to avoid as much work as possible with the excuse that it was his birthday, but he never really celebrated it. After a lonely college career, and a few years at Black Mesa, he just kind of... Got used to not doing anything for himself. After all, it's not like he had any friends to invite to a party. </p><p>Things have... changed, though. Gordon just didn't realize it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Benrey/Gordon Freeman, Extremely background Bubby/Harold Coomer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Vinaigrettes [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970863</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Second Birthday Bash at the End of the World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachbites/gifts">peachbites</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Okay.” Gordon said. He was wearing an apron that may or may not have been white in a past life, and he’d just pulled a tray of bacon out of the oven. Normally they made it in the pan, but the pan was full of french toast, which Benrey had only had a few times. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Gordon waved the oven mitt at the bacon for a second before he turned back to Benrey, who was in charge of mixing the orange juice - neither of them liked it that much, so they just got the frozen tubes for whenever Joshua came to visit, which was this weekend, because next weekend was Joshua’s birthday and that’s what Gordon was talking to Benrey about. “Do you remember the plan?”</p><p>“We’re gonna head to the mall and you and me are gonna spy out some good gifts for birthday boy next weekend. Then we’re gonna go back later this week and pick ‘em all up and wrap them. And then you’re gonna drive down to Jason’s place next week’nd and attend the party.” Benrey plopped the OJ chunk into the pitcher and added water, then made a grabby hand at the whisk that had rolled away, just out of his reach. Gordon nudged it over with the oven mitt. Benrey blew him a kiss. Gordon rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Good. Thanks for remembering - just like, take pictures of whatever he says he likes. Don’t make it obvious! I still want to surprise him. I was also thinking of - well, it’s not important. But I might order some pizza or something for dinner tonight.” Gordon’s phone goes off. Benrey watches him get distracted, but not distracted enough to burn the toast. OJ is done, the table is already set, the food is almost done - they just needed the not-toddler-not-teenager - how old was he? Wasn’t it about to change, anyway? He’d just ask next week. That way he wouldn’t have to remember two numbers.</p><p>Joshua stumbled in a few minutes later and sat down, mouth still surrounded by flakes of dried toothpaste from the night before, when Benrey had spent fifteen minutes making faces at the mirror with him while they were brushing their teeth. Kid was still getting used to visiting on Fridays too, and a little bit of Silly Time made things easier.</p><p>“Good morning, starshine.” Gordon said. “Made you frampch toast and some bacon. How you feelin’? Remember anything from your study session with Bubby yesterday?”</p><p>Joshua nodded at the table and made grabby hands for the orange juice. It was gonna be a long morning.</p><p>Benrey helped do dishes when breakfast was done, then all but shoved Gordon down the hall. Gordon had said something about editing an article, so he was gonna do it, come Xen or high water - even if both he and Benrey knew he was just gonna get distracted for an hour. Then, Benrey set up a much more awake Joshua at the coffee table, with the second cup of OJ he'd wrangled out of Gordon, and played some games, watching Joshua do his homework and waiting out the few hours before they went out to the mall.</p><p>“Hey.” Joshua said in a whisper that wasn’t really a whisper. “Wanna help me make something for Freeze?”</p><p>Benrey looked over his shoulder - Spelling words were done, so he wasn’t just trying to get out of homework. Benrey paused his game. “Sure. What’re we making?”</p><p>-</p><p>Gordon’s not sure how long he spends in his room, reading and re-reading and re-reading and re-reading and re-reading his article. It starts to turn into word soup by the time he’s done. He should just go to the doctor and have them re-up his ADHD meds… But he already has to go to therapy twice a week sometimes, and he doesn’t want to deal with more doctors than he has to. He’ll just wait until his check up in a few weeks. It’ll be fine.</p><p>He lets himself get distracted, flicking through social media for a second before he feels guilty; he goes over to a few job search sites, then bounces to Twitch for a bit. Nobody he’s particularly interested in watching… But there is that one programmer; they always have some good commentary. He clicks on them for some background noise and pulls up a different window before he can get too distracted again.</p><p>He gets through a few more pages before his brain starts to wander. He knows his computer is good enough for streaming; he just isn’t sure if he’d be comfortable doing it right now. He’s already gotten a promise from both Coomer and Tommy to pop in a few times if he gets started - one decidedly more enthusiastically than the other - and he’s honestly not worried about audience size; he just wants to prove to himself that he can. Anxiety is a bitch.</p><p>Unfortunately, ADHD is a bitch, too. He’s been flicking through different sites for over an hour without actually working on his paper; he forces himself back to his work just in time for Benrey to knock on the door.</p><p><em> Oh thank god. </em> Gordon thought. “Come in?”</p><p>“Hey bro - fuck. I mean. Shoot. Freaking shoot.” Benrey pulled up his foot, revealing a Lego on the floor.</p><p>“Sorry, man. You good? Did Joshua leave that out?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s all good.” Benrey threw the Lego down the hallway, towards the front door. It… It would just happen again. Gordon sighed internally. He'd just step on it again. Or Gordon would. “So uh, Joshua and I made you something.”</p><p>“Oh, this can’t be good.” Gordon got up from the computer so quickly he knocked the repurposed kitchen chair over, then almost tripped over it trying to put it back up. That kind of smile? On <em> Benrey? </em> That just spelled danger. Either Joshua had convinced Benrey to do something, or Benrey had convinced Joshua, and that was <em> worse. </em> </p><p>"Why so suspicious?" Benrey asked as Gordon pushed his way past him and down the hallway.</p><p>“Freeze!” Joshua pointed two finger-guns at Gordon as he rounded the corner. Gordon froze - like any good father would, when your sheriff-son has his imaginary sights trained on you - and waited for the signal that it was okay to move again. In the meantime, he glanced around the kitchen. It was… It was in good shape, still. Kinda. It wasn’t as wrecked as it <em> could </em> be. There were more dishes in the sink, and the oven was still cracked open for some reason, and there were eggshells on the soap dish, but everything looked relatively not-wrecked.</p><p>Joshua sat at the table, sitting up in his chair on his knees so he could get good leverage to ice… whatever was in the pan. Gordon hoped it was brownies, because as much as he loved his son, he wasn’t sure he could eat a pan of very thin, very burnt cake. It looked like he’d just finished sticking the candles in the pan, which made Gordon worried. Candles in brownies? It was probably a cake. A failed cake. It didn’t smell burnt, though, so Gordon still had hope. As much as he could when his nine-year-old son had been baking with his known pyromaniac-adjacent roommate. </p><p>Joshua giggled and dropped the guns, and Gordon exaggerated his way through a forehead wipe, which got him another giggle. This was good! He was getting a good grade in fatherhood, which was a normal and achievable thing to want. <em> Shut up, anxiety. </em></p><p>“You’re gonna have to tell me how to freeze-gun ‘im. It never works for me.” Benrey said, sticking his finger in the cake pan. Joshua slapped his hand, smearing blue icing on him, which just made him laugh. </p><p>“You just yell ‘Freeze’ - Hey!” Joshua had to slap Benrey again when he reached for a candle. Gordon felt a smile growing on his face. He hadn’t expected this level of camaraderie between the two when he’d introduced them two months ago, but it had been a good surprise. They even teamed up against him - not as often as he and Joshua teamed up against Benrey, but it was nice. </p><p>“I wasn’t gonna mess anything up.”</p><p>“You already ate a candle.” Joshua did not look impressed.</p><p>“So? It was tasty.”</p><p>“You’re not supposed to eat candles!” You know that tone kids get, when they think they’re obviously smarter and know more than the adult they’re talking to? Yeah, that’s what Joshua sounds like here. But the only thing funnier than having a four-year-old sigh and explain the plot of <em> Cowboys: The Adventure: The Movie </em> (One of Joshua’s first attempts at storytelling) was having your soon-to-be-10-year-old son use that tone on your alien roommate. It’s even better because Joshua <em> did </em> know more about this subject than Benrey. Gordon can’t help giggling a little bit as he leans against the door frame again.</p><p>“Uh, then why do they go on cake?” Oh god it was a ruined cake.</p><p>“You light them on fire!”</p><p>“Wait, what? Nice.” Benrey grinned at Gordon.</p><p>Yeah. It was… Nice. Gordon pulled out a chair and sat down. “What’s the occasion?” He asked with a grin, swiping his own fingerful of blue icing. </p><p>“Don’t tell me you <em> forgot! </em>” Joshua said, with the same level of enthusiasm that he approached everything in his life. “Freeze, how could you?”</p><p>“Hey! I know what’s <em> next </em> week. But I can’t think of anything important going on today. Except for our trip to the mall later, so don’t ruin your appetite.”</p><p>“Freeze, it’s your <em> birthday </em> today!” </p><p>Gordon kinda… froze. He sat very still, like if he didn’t move, the other two at the table wouldn’t see him. Yeah, it was his birthday, but it wasn’t like he’d been planning anything! Just pizza later with his roommate and his kid. </p><p>“You found out!” Gordon said dramatically, covering his face and maybe getting a little blue icing on it, it’s fine. “I have to go into witness protection now - my secret is out!”</p><p>“Freeze!” Joshua laughed. Gordon avoided Benrey’s eyes across the table; they almost seemed to be glowing. Gordon couldn’t figure out why, though. “You’re silly.”</p><p>“I’m silly?” Gordon asked, faking offended now. “It’s my birthday and I’m being declared <em> silly </em> - I can’t believe it! The injustice!”</p><p>“Gordon Sillyman.” Benrey interjected, almost like he had had the thought and needed to get it out as quickly as possible. Joshua loved it, laughing louder and louder until Gordon felt the need to rein it in. </p><p>“Thank you, little man.” Gordon said. He reached across the table and ruffled Joshua’s almost curly hair. “It looks amazing. You two did a great job.”</p><p>“We didn’t have any sprinkles…” Joshua said. </p><p>“That’s okay. It’s perfect because you helped make it.” Gordon said, standing up and moving to get the long lighter out of the drawer. </p><p>“Benrey made me wait until you were here for candles.” Joshua said.</p><p>“That was very responsible of him.” Gordon said. He smiled at Benrey, ignoring the way his roommate met his eyes then looked away very quickly. “D’you want to light them, Benrey?”</p><p>“Huh? Oh, what? I mean. I guess. If you can’t.”</p><p>“It kinda makes no sense for me to light them when I’m gonna blow them out like, less than a minute later.” Gordon said. “You do it for me, I’ll get some cups for milk.”</p><p>“Uh.” Benrey clicked the lighter a few times. </p><p>“We didn’t know how many candles we needed.” Joshua provided, an absolute fount of information that nobody asked for. Gordon still basked in the attention. “We have - we have sixteen. I know you’re more than sixteen, though.” </p><p>“I know. It’s okay, this way you get to sing the song.”</p><p>“Song?” Benrey had finished lighting all the candles. Gordon finished pouring the milk. Joshua took a few more seconds to finish gasping at Benrey.</p><p>“<em>You don’t know the song? </em>” He asked, leaning so far over the table that Gordon thought he’d land in the pan. He gently corrected his son back into his seat. </p><p>“Benrey’s never been to a birthday party.” Gordon said, then winced. Benrey shot him a glance. “Actually, his parents didn’t - uh - believe in them. They were…” Quick, what was the religion that didn’t do birthdays or holidays? “Jenova’s witnesses.” Fuck. He sounded like Benrey.</p><p>“Yeah. Jenova’s witnesses.” Benrey agreed, nodding his head. <em> Wait, Jenova was the thing from Final Fantasy VII- </em> “Teach me the song?”</p><p>Gordon waited while they went over the words - really, this was the least intense tutorial he’d ever sat through - and got ready for his big moment. It wasn’t until they were finishing up the song, the last strains of <em> Happy Birthday to yooouuu… </em> coming out of their mouths that Gordon realized Benrey was going to make an off color remark about blowing.</p><p>He was too far into the movement to stop. His breath came out in a puff, instead of a breeze, and he started choking on his laughter. He’d just psyched himself out of blowing out candles just because his roommate could be salacious sometimes. Benrey hadn’t even said anything! </p><p>Gordon took another quick breath, then blew the candles out. </p><p>Joshua cheered, and Benrey sang a couple lines of Sweet Voice, not that Gordon really paid attention to the colors. He was still too busy imagining Benrey saying things in his head. <em> “Come on Gordos, you can blow better than that.” </em>… He should stop.</p><p>He was getting paper plates down when he heard giggling. He turned around to see that Benrey had taken an entire scoop out of the corner of the pan with his hand. Joshua was mid-reach, but he quickly pulled his arm back. </p><p>“Benrey.” </p><p>“Yeah, bro?” Benrey took a huge bite out of his brownie - again, Gordon hoped it was a brownie and not just a miserably failed cake - and chewed with his mouth open. “Got something to say?”</p><p>While he was distracted, Joshua had reached out and snagged a small piece of cake with his little nine-year-old hand. </p><p>“Is this what we do now?” Gordon sighed.</p><p>“Yeah, bro, dig in. What - uh - are you, anti-brownie?” Oh thank god they were brownies.</p><p>“You know what?” Gordon swiped his finger across the top of the brownies again and tapped Benrey on the nose with his blue finger.</p><p>“Dude. Not cool.” Benrey’s eyes crossed a little as he looked at the end of his nose, then his tongue came out - too long to really be entirely human, unless he was related to Gene Simmons. It poked up and licked the blue right off. He was grinning, ear to ear, and it made Joshua grin too, and if Gordon’s chest felt a little tight when Benrey’s eyes met his again, he didn’t give it too much thought. He was just glad they were all happy.</p><p>“Okay, okay. Eat up, then we should get out of here.”</p><p>He herded Benrey and Joshua out and down into the car, letting them argue over who got to pick the music as he made his way downtown. He wasn’t looking forward to the busy mall, but he could admit to himself he was glad Benrey was coming. It helped to relieve some of his anxiety - if anybody was staring, they were probably staring at him. And even if they were staring at Gordon, it was probably because he was reacting to Benrey or the Science Team. It was fine. It was like exposure therapy, but highly unregulated and not official at all.</p><p>He wondered a little bit if his experience at Black Mesa had made him a little agoraphobic - he wasn’t sure what the diagnosing criteria was, but he knew he was getting a lot more anxious about the little things. It was being handled by his therapy and meds but he could still feel the nervous energy whenever he did anything out of his routine. Eh, just another thing to bring up next week.</p><p>Joshua’s little cowboy boots clip-clopped as they made their way through the mall, one hand in Gordon’s, the other in Benrey’s. The kid practically wrenched his arm out of the socket as he made a mad dash for one store in particular.</p><p>“GameStop! GameStop! Benrey’s friend Josh works there!”</p><p>“No, he doesn’t, Josh isn’t even <em> real</em>-” </p><p>“Josh is real!” Benrey said indignantly.</p><p>“GameStop!”</p><p>“Fine!” Gordon gave in. He shot Benrey a look over his shoulder as he was pulled into the store. Benrey just shrugged and quirked his lips in what could almost pass as a grin.</p><p>“Welcome to GameStop!” A teenage girl said. Gordon gave her a half-hearted wave and let go of Joshua’s hand. The almost-10-year-old was off like a shot, running straight to the XBox demo in the corner. Benrey pulled his phone out - he had pics to get. </p><p>“Playstation is where it’s at, bro.”</p><p>“I know.” Gordon said like he’d heard it all. He had.</p><p>“Why’s your kid gotta be such a loser, huh? Gordo?”</p><p>“Joshua - he’s nine, dude! He’s not a loser!”</p><p>“He’s half-baked.” Benrey said, nodding sagely. </p><p>“He’s - exactly. He’s still learning. He’ll come around eventually.” Gordon chuckled and patted Benrey's shoulder before wandering over to the computer stuff in the corner.</p><p>Benrey walked over to Joshua, acting like he was typing on his phone. “Any good games, lil bro?”</p><p>“Yeah I - they’ve got…” Joshua rambled for a few minutes. Gordon wandered between the different consoles in Benrey’s periphery as he listened to Joshua; first the computer accessories, then the Playstation stuff on the other side of the store, then the Nintendo stuff in the corner, and finally to the section he and Joshua were digging through. Benrey managed to snag a pic of Gordon and Joshua together, then another one of them standing in almost exactly the same pose, a few feet apart. Both of those went in the group chat - the mod channel Gordon couldn’t see.</p><p>“Were you listening?” Joshua asked indignantly.</p><p>“You don’t think your dads will let you play Fortnight cause it has guns, but Minecraft is okay, but you don’t like the spiders in the game because they make a creepy noise. And you really want that one racing game because your friend Sarah has it and it’s a lot of fun.” Benrey rattled off. He hadn’t been paying attention, but he had been listening. This time.</p><p>“... And?”</p><p>“And you were wondering where my friend Josh is.” Benrey looked around. He’d never even been to this GameStop. “He uh, might not be working today, little dude.”</p><p>“Oh.” Joshua turned back to the demo. Benrey paid more attention to Gordon than to Joshua - Joshua would play any game they got him, kid didn’t have taste yet. He didn’t think Gordon was getting him a game console, though. Definitely not an XBox.</p><p>Eventually, they made their way out of GameStop without buying anything. They ducked in and out of a few other stores, Benrey keeping up the messages in the background all the while. Benrey angled the phone away every time Gordon tried to look at it.</p><p>“Noseyman.”</p><p>“What - I mean, I’m just trying to -” Gordon let his arm get tugged a little too hard, and he was pulled into the next store by Joshua. Convenient escape, Freeman. Benrey tucked his phone away for all of two seconds until it went off again. He was super popular today, he loved it.</p><p>T.C.: What is Mr. Freeman looking at?</p><p>Benry: computer accessories for his lame stream plans</p><p>T.C.: Oh! Did he buy anything?</p><p>Benry: nah he got uhhh Joshua’s bday next week, we shoppin for kids</p><p>Coomer: Oh, it’s young Joshua’s birthday! I’ll have to obtain a gift!</p><p>Bubby: Do you think he’s old enough for a Small Hadron Collider?</p><p>T.C.: Probably not</p><p>Bubby: Eh, won’t stop me</p><p>Coomer: When is young Joshua’s birthday?</p><p>Benry: Next Fri but party’s next sat at Jason’s</p><p>Benry: Gordos said something bout just him going, idk</p><p>Bubby: Well that’s rude</p><p>Coomer: I understand! It’s a Family Event. While we care for Gordon and young Joshua, it’s important to respect their boundaries.</p><p>T.C.: I hope you guys have fun today!</p><p>Benrey got distracted in a clothing store when Joshua handed him a hoodie that was just a bigger version of the hoodie he wanted, saying he wanted to match - Benrey definitely felt An Emotion. He looked up at Gordon, and their eyes met across the store, and he held up the hoodie with a look in his eye that could only be described as <em> pleading</em>. </p><p>“What’s that?” Gordon made his way over.</p><p>“Little man wants to match.” Benrey rumpled the fabric in his hands. “He’s uh, got some weird taste, but.” Oh yeah, that was definitely an emotion.</p><p>“... This is the one?” Gordon asked, pointing at the same hoodie in a much smaller size. Benrey nodded mutely. Gordon looked over his shoulder, surreptitiously, like he was in some spy movie, and gave Benrey a wink before he made his way to the cash register, grabbing the hoodie off the rack and the one in Benrey’s hand before he wandered off. </p><p>Oh.</p><p>Benrey caught up with Joshua, who was still carrying the hoodie he was gonna ask Gordon for, rambling about the cool TV shows he’d found - some of them were definitely a bit more adult than what Gordon would be comfortable with Joshua seeing; Benrey pointed him towards some more family-friendly titles as best he could, but he was still distracted. There was all this <em> pink and blue </em> filling up his chest, and he was about to pop like an overinflated balloon.</p><p>Benrey kept taking pictures, though. Even if he didn’t know what he was taking pictures of anymore.</p><p>Gordon, predictably, said no to the hoodie when Joshua asked, saying that he already had too many clothes - and that hoodie was way too big, he needed something smaller than a large, he was a kid after all. But there were suspiciously no more smalls on the rack… Benrey tried winking at Gordon when Joshua was distracted, but he wasn’t sure how well it’d worked. Gordon blushed, Benrey coughed, Joshua looked at them like they were crazy before dragging them to the next store.</p><p>T.C.: Uh</p><p>T.C.: I don’t know of anybody knew this but Today is Mr. Freeman’s Birthday</p><p>T.C.: If**</p><p>Benry: ? Yeah I knew</p><p>He’d only found out that day, but still.</p><p>Bubby: Why didn’t you say anything?!</p><p>Coomer: Oh dear! I don’t have anything to give him. I’m quite giftless!</p><p>T.C.: I don’t know what he wants!</p><p>Benry: He didnt say anything</p><p>T.C.: But he’s our friend!</p><p>T.C.: We can’t just skip his birthday!</p><p>Coomer: Exactly! Gordon deserves MANY presents!</p><p>Bubby: Do you think he’s old enough for a Small Hadron Collider? I have a spare</p><p>Benrey’s eyebrows scrunched together. He still didn’t understand a lot about birthdays, but the way Gordon had been talking earlier, at the table, it seemed like they were mostly for kids anyway? The gifts, the parties, the cakes… He’d been mega surprised by the brownies they made; that just told Benrey that birthdays were for kids only. Well, except for Tommy’s birthday party. Then again, Tommy was even older than Gordon...</p><p>Benry: arent birthdays for kids or something</p><p>Coomer: While technically true that everybody only experiences their ‘birth day’ once, on the day that they are born, the annual celebration of ‘birthdays’ is about celebrating the individual who was born! It’s a chance to come together with friends and family and give gifts to the one being celebrated!</p><p>Bubby: What he said</p><p>T.C.: I don’t want Mr. Freeman to think we forgot!</p><p>T.C.: Where are you guys?</p><p>Benry: mall</p><p>Bubby: Which one smartass</p><p>“Who are you texting?” Gordon tried looking at the phone, but Benrey tilted it away and finished his message.</p><p>“Group chat.”</p><p>“Oh.” Gordon nodded, pulling out his phone. “Wait - you’re not messaging our group chat?”</p><p>“No I am.”</p><p>“But… There’s nothing there.”</p><p>“Mod privileges, bro.”</p><p>“... Are you talking about me?”</p><p>“Maybe.” </p><p>“... Okay.” Gordon shrugged in the most nonchalant way possible, the best he could manage it, but he was totally chalant. He looked chalant as hell, worried about what Benrey was saying in the group chat.</p><p>T.C.: Okay! I’ll be there in ~30 Mins!</p><p>Bubby: Coomer and I are on our way now</p><p>Coomer: Bubby is driving!</p><p>Bubby: We’ll be there in fifteen minutes!</p><p>T.C.: Oh, you’re on!</p><p>“Oh cool.” Benrey muttered to himself. Gordon was by his side in an instant, leaving his kid to stare at a kiosk covered in knockoff retro game consoles. Benrey tilted the phone so he couldn’t see. “What? Spy man? Gonna steal my information?”</p><p>“No.” Gordon blushed and looked away.</p><p>“Curiosity killed the cat, Gordos. Gonna die of curiosity? Gonna get so curious you explode?”</p><p>“No!” Gordon shoved Benrey, who wasn’t ready. He was also standing next to a glass case of body jewelry. His elbow might have broken the glass if he didn’t no-clip at the last second. Gordon’s rules - He wasn’t allowed to break anything outside of the house. Benrey righted himself and poked Gordon in the side. <em> “Nyeep!” </em></p><p>“What. Was that?” Benrey snickered.</p><p>“Shut up!” Gordon rebutted. He shoved Benrey again, but he was ready for it. He poked Gordon’s side again. “Hey, stop it!” They went back and forth, inching their way through the hallway until they made it to the doorway of the next store Joshua wanted to go to. </p><p><em> “Freeeeeze…” </em> Joshua’s little voice was so exasperated Gordon couldn’t help but laugh. </p><p>“Sorry, little man.” Gordon said. He let Joshua lead the way for a bit, keeping his guard up - not that Benrey wasn’t able to get a few good pokes in.</p><p>T.C.: Here!</p><p>Bubby: You cheated!</p><p>T.C.: There weren’t any rules about teleportation!</p><p>Coomer: Tommy is right, dear Bubby. It’s unsporting to complain when the rules were not broken.</p><p>T.C.: I’ll get us a reservation at Dave and Busters!</p><p>Bubby: I’ll be there in five minutes!</p><p>Coomer: @Benrybenrybenr, would you like to maneuver Gordon to the Dave and Busters?</p><p>Benry: Sure</p><p>“Yo man, I’m getting hungry.” Benrey said. Gordon was in the middle of trying to negotiate just <em> one </em> cowboy pistol, since Joshua had so many at home already - but he looked up as soon as Benrey said something.</p><p>“Huh? What time is it?” Gordon pulled out his phone to check. “Yeah, I guess it’s almost lunch time… What sounds good, guys?”</p><p>“Two guns!” Joshua said.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“<em> Three </em> guns!”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“<em> Four </em>-”</p><p>“Okay, I’m stopping this now.” Gordon said, picking up Joshua and tickling him. “Food! Think of food, little cowpoke. What sounds good?”</p><p>“Dave and Busters.” Benrey said quickly.</p><p>“Yeah! Dave and Busters!” Joshua said, instantly.</p><p>“I - no. You don’t even eat anything but the candy there-” </p><p>“But you asked!” Joshua said, reaching out of his dad’s arms to put one of the pistols back. Benrey isn’t sure if that’s what did it or if it was the fact that Gordon would spoil Joshua if left unchecked, but Gordon gives in pretty much instantly.</p><p>“I did ask.” Gordon said, shaking his head. “Okay, let’s go - it’s down on the first floor of this monstrosity.”</p><p>That wasn’t nearly as hard as he thought it would be. Benrey followed Gordon, carrying all the bags while Gordon carried Joshua. Kid was getting too big to be carried easily; Gordon would need to start working out like Jason did if he wanted to keep that up.</p><p>“Oh my god.” Gordon said as soon as he opened the doors.</p><p>“Hi, Mr. Freeman!”</p><p>“You planned this.”</p><p>“Guilty as charged.” Bubby grinned.</p><p>“I can’t believe -”</p><p>“Happy Birthday!” </p><p>“A ‘birthday’ is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards-”</p><p>Benrey tuned Coomer out, not wanting to hear about birthday presents when he’d utterly failed in that department. Fucking traditions making him look like an idiot. Like an <em> uncaring </em> idiot. He kinda vaguely followed the group to the table, then dispersed with the rest of them to play games before food came out. He might have been cheating with Tommy again. He was only like, two thousand tickets away from the Playstation 4. He could feel it in his grasp.</p><p>He was busy rambling about that with Tommy when Joshua ran over, squeezing between the two of them and sitting on the edge of the game. A kid after Benrey’s own fake heart. “So what did you get my dad for his birthday?”</p><p>“I didn’t get him anything.” Benrey said baldly. Joshua gasped.</p><p>“What? Why not?”</p><p>“Didn’t know what it was til today.” Benrey said with a shrug.</p><p>“It’s okay! You can put your name on one of mine!” Tommy offered. Always so sweet, Tommy was.</p><p>“What do you mean, one of yours? You said you didn’t have anything.”</p><p>“I - I have presents for everybody, Benrey. I plan ahead.”</p><p>“What about the Boomers?”</p><p>“Oh, Dr. Coomer is distracting Gordon so Bubby can run and buy some stuff really quick.” Tommy explained breezily, getting yet another skeeball in the highest point hole. “Then Bubby will take over so Dr. Coomer can wrap everything.” Of course they were.</p><p>“I didn’t know birthdays were such a big deal.” Benrey muttered.</p><p>“It’s okay, Benrey! You can - I can put your name on one of my gifts!”</p><p>“Nah, it’s not that.” Benrey said. “I’ll think of something.”</p><p>“If you’re sure.” Tommy said. </p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>They wandered around as a trio until Joshua got bored and went to spend all his tickets. Benrey had asked if he wanted to pool his with Benrey and Tommy to help get the Playstation, but he insisted on the Xbox, and Benrey didn’t negotiate with larvae. Playstation or bust. They heard the exact moment Bubby must have gotten back, because Dr. Coomer’s monologue suddenly cut off and was replaced with Bubby’s grumbling voice. Tommy and Benrey shared a look.</p><p>“Think maybe - about fifteen more minutes, then presents?”</p><p>“If they don’t get us kicked out first.”</p><p>Eventually, Benrey and Tommy split up - Tommy went to help Coomer wrap a few presents at the table and keep an eye on Joshua, who had run by with his body weight in sugar a few minutes ago, and Benrey went to find Gordon. He found them over in the arcade part, shooting fake zombies with a fake gun. It didn’t seem to mess with him as much as Black Mesa had; he was starting to heal. That’s good. </p><p>“Hey Feetman.”</p><p>“Wah - Benrey! What -” Gordon turned back to the screen as bright red letters announced his death. </p><p>“Sorry. Uh, sorry, two, because I didn’t get you anything.”</p><p>“What are you talking about?” Gordon put the gun in the rack and turned fully to Benrey. His green eyes seemed to glow in the neon lights.</p><p>“I, uh, didn’t know it was your birthday, didn’t have time to prep a present.” </p><p>“I mean -” Gordon looked out across the game floor. “You got them together, though, didn’t you? You organized this whole surprise party.” </p><p>Aw. As much as Benrey wanted to take credit, one of Gordon’s rules was to be honest, which meant he had to tell the truth. “Actually, that was mostly Tommy. Coomer made sure I got you here, but uh. Yeah. Tommy.”</p><p>“And you made the brownies earlier.” </p><p>“That was Joshua’s idea.”</p><p>“Listen, I’m trying to find something!” Gordon laughed. “Man, it just means - it means so much to me that you guys wanted to throw something together, even last minute like this. I - I don’t have a lot of friends, and I don’t normally do birthday stuff. But this? This makes me feel really special.” Gordon put his hand on Benrey’s arm. “I appreciate you being here, man.”</p><p>Oh. <em> Oh. </em> Benrey had to fight down the Sweet Voice. There was no way he was spewing balls in Gordon’s face. Not in public.</p><p>“They, uh. Said they’re ready for presents.” Benrey said, gesturing stiffly at the table. He made sure to gesture with the non-Gordon-held arm.</p><p>“Wait, they got me <em> presents</em>?” Gordon looked shocked.</p><p>"Uh, yeah, man. Didntchu listen to Coomer when we got here? Birthday presents are kinda a big uh." Benrey smacked his lips. "Tradition.”</p><p>“Sure, Benrey.” Gordon sighed. "I just - I wasn't expecting this. I never really... did stuff for my birthday, before."</p><p>"Why not?" Benrey asked.</p><p>"Well, what do you do for your birthday?"</p><p>"I don't have one."</p><p>"... Oh." Gordon rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Do... do you want to pick one?"</p><p>"You can do that?"</p><p>"I mean, if you don't have a birthday, I don't think anybody would stop you from picking one out."</p><p>"Oh." Benrey paused for a minute. Gordon fiddled with stuff in his pockets while he waited for Benrey to think.</p><p>"I choose today, and my present is that I don't have to get you presents if I forget."</p><p>"Ben- Benrey, no." Gordon laughed, one of those surprised laughs. "Don't - It's okay. You didn't know today was my birthday until earlier, I didn't tell you. Don't worry about that. Pick a birthday for yourself that you want - something that's all yours. Okay? You don't even have to pick it now. In fact, you should make sure you don't pick one of the others - I'm sure Bubby would light you on fire if he had to share-"</p><p>"Oh. Uh, what if I want today? huh? Telling me I can't have today as my birthday on my birthday? Kinda rude, Freeman. Can't believe you'd be so mean to me on my birthday like that."</p><p>"I'm not sharing a birthday with you." Gordon laughed. "And you can't have next Saturday, either, because - because it's Joshua's."</p><p>"Yeah I can't take Joshua's birthday, I already have one. It's today."</p><p>"<em>Benrey</em>-" Gordon choked on another laugh. Benrey grinned a bit. He could have a smile, as a treat.</p><p>"Lets get back to the table, yeah? Gotta tell everybody it's my birthday."</p><p>"It's not-"</p><p>"Can't hear you over the happy birthday song, Gordon."</p><p>“Hello, Gordon!” Dr. Coomer boomed. Bubby sat on the other side of him, in the back corner of the booth, and Joshua was sitting across from them - his spoils spread out on the table, tucked behind the small stack of presents. They were even all wrapped, too. Gordon looked like he was going to cry again. Benrey wasn't sure if it was from frustration or because he was touched.</p><p>“Guys, you really didn’t have to -”</p><p>“Nonsense!” Dr. Coomer said. “It’s always important to celebrate friends!”</p><p>“All four of them.” Bubby said.</p><p>“What - what about Darnold?” Tommy asked.</p><p>“What about him? I said what I said.”</p><p>“I see. He just doesn’t have enough relationship points? Is that the mechanic?” Gordon joked. </p><p>“Here, open this!” Dr. Coomer pressed a small package into Gordon’s hand.</p><p>"Uh, it's my birthday today, too." Benrey interjected immediately. Gordon snorted again, and Joshua looked scandalized.</p><p>"You're lying. You don't have a birthday."</p><p>"Ouch. Kinda hurts, friend." Benrey said, looking at Bubby. "What do you know about my birthday, huh?"</p><p>"We don't have birthdays." Bubby said, sulkily.</p><p>"Maybe you don't. I just found out mine was today, on account of me picking it to be today." Benrey smirked. Tommy laughed into his bright orange mixed drink; no need for a designated driver if you aren't driving!</p><p>"You should - you should pick one, too!" Tommy slapped the table. "Pick your favorite day!"</p><p>"Guys."</p><p>"Who has a favorite day?"</p><p>"I do!" Tommy said with a grin. "June- June 23rd! Its one of my favorite days!" Aw. That was the day Benrey had come back. That was really sweet of him.</p><p>"Guys." Everybody finally turned to Gordon, who looked less uncomfortable and more irate. "What the hell is this?"</p><p>“A passport holder! That way, you’ll never lose your passport again!”</p><p>The glare Gordon gave Benrey could cut through glass.</p><p>“I already told you, man, I didn’t give you nuthin.”</p><p>“Next one?” Tommy held out a decently sized box to diffuse the situation. It turned out to be computer headphones, bright orange with white and black geometric designs. Gordon pulled Tommy into a hug. “D-Darnold picked them out, he knows more about game headsets than - uh - than I do.” Tommy was careful not to spill his drink on Gordon.</p><p>“I’m sure they’ll be amazing.” Gordon sat it aside. Tommy handed him a big paper bag that had a hoodie at the top. The first thing was a hoodie - Benrey glared at Tommy and practically whined. Gordon’s hoodies were his <em> kryptonite</em>, man. Why did Tommy have to be like this? Forget the fact that Gordon had just bought him one, maybe. This was a <em> Gordon </em> hoodie.</p><p>“I know it, uh, doesn’t get too cold around here, but you can never have too many hoodies!” Tommy said to Gordon, but he was <em> looking </em>at Benrey. Little shit. Benrey stuck his tongue out.</p><p>“Thanks, man, it looks cozy!” Gordon said. Underneath were some t-shirts with bad science puns on them. Gordon laughed at each of them in turn, sighing happily when he folded them all up and put them back in the bag.</p><p>Benrey got a little distracted. Never had the patience for unboxing videos. Gordon was happy, that’s what mattered, not the shit in the box. Hell, he was happy with just this - lunch with friends. How the hell was he so low-maintenance and Benrey <em> still </em> didn’t know what to do?</p><p>“Look at that!” Benrey was pulled back into the present. The table was covered with a small pile, the passport holder and the bag of shirts from Tommy, the headset, a few game store gift cards, a streaming microphone, and the big box under the table turned out to be a bright orange gaming chair with built-in Bluetooth speakers. “I love it, man, thank you so much!” </p><p>Bubby must have deliberately chosen the far spot in the booth so Gordon couldn’t hug him. It was a wise decision. “I knew you would. Orange is a terrible color.”</p><p>“Nah, man, orange is good. Can’t rhyme anything with it.” Benrey chimed in. Gordon chuckled at him, then did a double take when he moved the box a bit.</p><p>“Wait, what’s this back here?” A silvery-metallic box that must have fallen to the back of the pile in the shuffle was doing its best not to be picked up; Gordon's real hand was at the wrong angle and his fake hand didn't grip right. Benrey bent over and gave him a helping hand. “There’s no tag…”</p><p>“That’s not mine!” Dr. Coomer said. The others shook their heads, too.</p><p>“Oh. Well, should I, uh…”</p><p>“Open it, man. The suspense is killin’ me.” Benrey said, monotone and deadpan as ever. Gordon snorted.</p><p>“Well, I mean, I guess…” Gordon used his prosthetic thumb to separate the paper at the edge. “I mean, if we need to turn it in, we can do that, right?”</p><p>“Yeah, Mr. Freeman.” Tommy said.</p><p>"If you don't open that box, I'm gonna explode." Bubby said.</p><p>“Right.” Gordon nodded and opened the box.</p><p>A silver forearm sat inside. It looked arcane and modern and futuristic all at once, like something out of the late-night scifi shows Benrey would watch sometimes. Everybody gasped when they saw it, even Joshua.</p><p>“Put it on, Freeze!” he said, food forgotten. “It looks so cool! Put it on!”</p><p>“Uh - give me a second.” Gordon smiled at them then turned to Benrey, jerking his head towards the bathroom door. “Come on.”</p><p>“Yessir.”</p><p>“I didn’t want to go armless in front of Joshua.” Gordon explained as he held open the bathroom door. “I know he’s probably gonna see it one day, but -”</p><p>“I get it, man. What do you need?”</p><p>“Just - hold on to this.” Benrey laced his fingers through Gordon’s prosthetic. “Not like that.” Well, Gordon was smiling at least. He tucked the prosthetic into his hoodie pocket while Gordon fiddled with the other hand. “Okay. Um.”</p><p>“Here, let me.” Benrey held the new prosthetic with gentle hands, aligning it with Gordon’s stub. It looked like it would fit. It was definitely lighter than the other one had been. Gordon made a noise when it was on, probably from the cold metal on sensitive scar tissue, and Benrey felt regret chewing at his esophagus again. Not the time Sweet Voice, not right now.</p><p>He watched Gordon flip the arm this way and that, watching the fingers dance. They seemed to work well; he was only used to Gordon’s really inconvenient fake arm, but this one seemed like it would suit him better. It didn’t make as much noise, it wasn’t as heavy, it looked cool… Plus, like, honestly; who else in this Dave and Busters would be missing a right arm? It was obviously a gift for Gordos. “Pretty good luck this guy fits so well, huh?”</p><p>“Benrey.” Gordon sounded amazed and close to tears. “Benrey, I - I can control my fingers. I don’t have to twist my hand and -”</p><p>“Wait, seriously?” Benrey looked down. He thought the fingers had been moving weird, but he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t a prosthetic expert. “You mean that’s like, you?”</p><p>“Yeah, man!” Gordon was crying again, happy tears. Benrey grabbed a paper towel and held it out. Gordon dabbed at his eyes with his human hand. “I knew - I mean, it’s - I know they have technology that like, takes nerves and connects them and uses the electrical impulse but… This doesn’t seem to have any of that. It’s crazy. God, what?”</p><p>“Can you - uh - feel anything?” Nerves sounded like he’d be able to feel stuff again.</p><p>“No, no feeling. But. Control? What?” Gordon sounded a little delirious. The first tears of surprise had gone away, but his face was still flush with happiness. Benrey felt his face stuck in a smile, too.</p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“That’s my line, Feetman.” Benrey said. “Sorry for your uh. Hand. Being missing in the first place.”</p><p>“Man, I got over that a long time ago.” Gordon said, but it wasn’t the same as saying he was forgiven. Benrey just nodded and looked at the ground. “I’m serious, it’s okay.” That was better, but still. Benrey shrugged. “You know what happened to the other one?”</p><p>“Right here.” Benrey pulled it out of his hoodie pocket. “So. Uh.” He was about to ask for forgiveness - he knew he didn’t deserve it, but he wanted to know - if he didn’t have it yet, what did he have to do to obtain it?</p><p>The words wouldn’t come.</p><p>Benrey wasn’t ready for the hug. It totally took him off guard, making him stumble even though he was standing in place. Gordon’s human arm went wide on his right, and the robot arm - which was what Benrey could call it in his head forever, since it was silver and not fake not-Gordon’s-flesh-tone like the last one - went around his left, and he got pulled into a tight, lingering hug.</p><p>They stood there for a few seconds before he lifted his hands to wrap Gordon back. He pulled Gordon closer, just a little bit, and he ducked his head to rest it on Gordon’s shoulder. Gordon loosened up a second so Benrey could adjust; so they could wrap their hands around Gordon, too. He put a whole hand on Gordon’s back between his shoulder blades and squeezed him tighter, his other hand dipping lower, just a bit.</p><p>Benrey wasn’t sure how long they stood like that. Just two bros, chilling in a Dave and Busters bathroom, zero feet apart because -</p><p>Somebody pushed open the bathroom door behind them, startling them both so badly they leapt apart, not looking at each other. </p><p>“Let’s - uh - let’s go show them what that hand do.” He rushed out of the bathroom, not realizing Gordon was very slow to follow.</p><p>He didn’t see Gordon’s blush.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry if this feels rushed! It kinda was. I hope y'all enjoyed it! I like to unwind from Serious Writing with easy little vignettes like this, so I hope people enjoy chilling to Almost But Not Quite There Relationships like I do. It's like the longest, most drawn out soap opera at this point. I swear, I'll let them kiss! Someday!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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